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If you judge a nation by the entertainment it prefers, then you
can learn a lot from investigating which programs were most watched
by Australians since TV started in this country.

The box celebrated its 50th birthday last Friday, so now is the
time to unveil the results of this column's research in the mouldy
archives of the ratings agencies ACNielsen and OzTAM. Below is our
best guess at the 50 shows and events that enthralled more than 50
per cent of the viewing populace in the past 50 years.

Of course, such a list can only ever be an estimate, because
ways of measuring audiences have changed over half a century.
Before the introduction of "people meters" in 1991, most ratings
were expressed as percentages of households viewing the
program.

In compiling the list, we faced these kind of issues: how do we
compare the claim that 55 per cent of Sydney viewers and 65 per
cent of Melbourne viewers watched The World of the Seekers
in 1968 with the claim that 4 million people in the mainland
capitals watched Lleyton Hewitt lose the Australian Open Tennis in
January 2005?

How do we compare I Love Lucy, which was supposedly
watched by 65 per cent of viewers in 1958 (when there were only
three channels and the population was 10 million, only half of whom
had a TV set) with Desperate Housewives, which drew 2.5
million viewers in 2005 (when there were five broadcast channels
and the population was 20 million, of whom 97 per cent had a TV
set)? We just had to take a stab at it . . .

Australia's all-time most watched TV
programs

1. Diana Spencer's funeral (9, 7, 10, ABC) 1997

2. Olympic opening and closing (7) 2000

3. Diana-Charles wedding (9, 7, 10, ABC) 1981

4. Cathy Freeman's Olympic run (7) 2000

5. Olympic swimming (7) 2000

6. The Sound of Music first TV showing (9) 1977

7. Tennis: Australian Open final (7) 2005

8. Rugby World Cup final (7) 2003

9. Roots (10) 1977

10. Moon landing (9, 7, 10, ABC) 1969

11. Australian Idol final (10) 2004

12. World of the Seekers (9) 1968

13. Olympics opening (10) 1984

14. Aus Idol final (10) 2003

15. The Block auction (9) 2003

16. September 11 reports (9, 7, ABC) 2001

17. Boxing: Rose v Rudkin (10) 1969

18. Tennis: Wimbledon final - Rafter (9) 2001

19. AFL final (10) 2003

20. Big Brother winner (10) 2004

21. AFL final (7) 1996

22. Holocaust (7) 1978

23. AFL final (10) 2004

24. The Beatles Sing for Shell (9) 1964

25. Big Brother final (10) 2001

26. National IQ Test (9) 2002

27. Great Moscow Circus (9) 1968

28. World Cup Soccer final (9) 2002

29. Aus Unites appeal (7,9,10) 2005

30. AFL final (10) 2002

31. Homicide (7) 1972

32. Olympic opening (7) 1996

33. World Swimming Day 8 (9) 2001

34. Melbourne Cup (7) 2002

35. Raiders of Lost Ark (10) 1985

36. A Town Like Alice (7) 1981

37. Rugby World Cup opening (7) 2003

38. RWC: Aus v Argentina (7) 2003

39. Against The Wind (7) 1978

40. Ben Casey (7) 1962

41. Desperate Housewives (7) 2005

42. Friends (9) 1999

43. Seinfeld (10) 1998

44. Perry Mason (9) 1959

45. The Untouchables (7) 1961

46. Star Wars (10) 1982

47. 77 Sunset Strip (7) 1959

48. Sale of the Century (9) 1981

49. The Mavis Bramston Show (7) 1965

50. I Love Lucy (9) 1958

What do we learn about ourselves from studying this list? It's
not enough to say Australians are obsessed with sport and prefer
comedy over tragedy. The Tribal Mind would like to hear deeper
meanings at ddale@fairfax.com.au